HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – Waymond Jordan Jr. surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season and the Hutchinson Community College football team’s defense dominated for its second shutout of the season on Saturday afternoon at Gowans Stadium.
The No. 3-ranked Blue Dragons out-gained the Highland Scotties 511-136 in a 44-0 shutout in the final regular-season home game. Highland is now 5-5 and 1-5 in the KJCCC.
Hutchinson improved to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the KJCCC. The Blue Dragons close out the regular season next Saturday with an 11 a.m. kickoff at Garden City.
Jordan rushed 24 times for a career-high 213 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday. He ran for touchdowns of 8, 15 and 67 yards. He had six rushes of 10 or more yards.
His 41-yard rush in the first quarter pushed Jordan past the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season. Jordan now has an NJCAA-high 1,199 yards this season, which is now 11th on the Blue Dragon single-season rushing list. Jordan now has 17 rushing touchdowns for the season, which ranks third in the Blue Dragon single-season rushing list.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons were dominant holding the Scotties to eight first downs, 72 rushing yards and 62 passing yards. Only 4 of 14 Highland possessions crossed midfield and the deepest drive went to the Hutchinson 36-yard line.
Hutchinson’s defense held the KJCCC’s top-ranked passer Gunnar Smith to 9 of 22 passing with 62 yards.
The Dragons forced two takeaways – interceptions by Kollin Collier and Jaquel Mack, who had a team-high six total tackles and two tackles for loss.
The Blue Dragons held highland to 4 of 17 on 3rd down and 0 of 4 on fourth down.
Quarterback Samari Collier returned to the line-up on Saturday and completed 10 of 15 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 20 yards and one score.
Benson Prosper had five receptions for 47 yards. Tre Brown had four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. Derrick Salley Jr. had three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.
The Blue Dragons took the opening kickoff 56 yards in just three plays and capped it off with a Jordan 8-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 Hutchinson lead with 13:37 to play. After holding Highland on downs to take over at the Dragon 47, eight plays later the Dragons scored on an 8-yard run by Jordan with 1:03 remaining in the opening quarter. The PAT was no good and the Blue Dragons led 13-0.
After forcing a punt on the next Scotties’ possession, the Dragons had a short field, going 43 yards in eight points as Collier broke containing and scrambled for a 41-yard touchdown and a 20-0 lead with 11:00 to play in the second quarter.
The Blue Dragons added two more second-quarter touchdowns on Collier touchdown passes of 54 yards to Salley with 2:09 left for a 27-0 lead. Then with 38 seconds left in the half, Collier found Brown for a 33-yard touchdown for a 34-0 halftime lead.
The Dragons closed the scoring with two scores in the fourth quarter. Nestus Burger kicked a 23-yard field goal with 14:51 to play for a 37-0 lead. Jordan then closed out his day, going over the 200-yard mark with a 67-yard touchdown run with 10:30 remaining to give the Dragons a 44-0 lead.
GAME NOTES – Head coach Drew Dallas moves past David Wheeler into fifth place on the Blue Dragon games coached list. … The Dragons are now 39-5 all-time against Highland, including 25-0 in Gowans Stadium. … The last 1,000-yard rusher in Blue Dragon history was Dylan Kedzior in 2022. … Waymond Jordan is the first Blue Dragon running back with 200 yards in a game since Kedzior, who went for 230 yards against Butler on October 1, 2022. … The Blue Dragons surpassed 500 yards of total offense for the fourth time this season. … This was the fourth time the Dragon defense held an opponent to less than 200 total yards. … The Blue Dragons have 33 rushing touchdowns this season, eighth most in single-season history.
